Rugby players and money matters 2

Professional rugby players are retiring with the majority in financial hardship not long after.

As a professional or semi-professional rugby player you would have started earning money in your trade probably as early as 20. For Fijian rugby players this would be around 25. 

A survey by NZ players association revealed that on average players stop playing at 30. Now that means you have only about 5  to 10 years to ply your game and earn money.

According to Sports Illustrated, 78% of NFL players will file for bankruptcy or face financial hardships only two years after playing their last game. NBA players face a similar fate with, 60% of players going broke five years into retirement.

The reasons for financial hardships vary, from lack of planning, over indulgence, bad investments and poor financial guidance. Or all of the above.

One factor in the above statistics is that players are earning much more money in their mid twenties than the average 20 year old. Also this is time when most young adults are learning personal finance through trial and error. But these players are making these mistakes with far more to lose.

Players are earning much more money in their mid twenties than the average 20 year old but also making these financial errors then.

After signing their first contract, athletes often face new family members and friends that come out the woodwork looking for help or investing for the next big thing. 

Rugby players also face pressure in the locker room and society to spend big. 

A player association has commented that players get tired of him telling them to stop spending their money and save. 

I know of a renowned Fijian international who lost his savings and investments which he left to his family to manage, whilst he was playing rugby overseas.

What should you do to avoid these pitfalls

1. Set a monthly budget and follow it. Put aside at least 10% of your income as savings. Don't touch this money.

2. We recommend joining a players association for advise and support. 

3. Speak to at least 3 financial advisors on investing. Don't go with with first one you speak to. Choose one that you understand trust and you feel you can work with.

4. Set aside at least 3 months wages for an emergency.

5. Study or plan for career to continue after rugby. Some players have even studied and got a degree whilst playing.

Fiji World Cup sevens team naming

The Fiji rugby sevens team will be named tomorrow Friday 31 June. The IRB deadline is tomorrow for all teams to submit the names of their squad.

Dere will have a hard time naming his team and their is much speculation. Through out the year the IRB sevens series team has close to 40 players in action. With interest now shown by some overseas players his job will be more difficult.

Come back tomorrow to see the final team.

Rugby and doping

This is an article about doping that appeared in www.Rugby-Career.com

Rugby and doping

IRB has taken a strict stand on doping and has taken extensive steps in educating players on their responsibility. In addition to a list of banned drugs, doping regulations also include random testing rules that will ensure player compliance.
Tests for compliance are relatively easy around IRB sanctioned competitions such as test matches, IRB sevens tournaments and rugby World Cups, and premier competitions such as the Super 15. However, some drugs can be eliminated from the body so quickly that random testing throughout the year is necessary to ensure player compliance.
This is the so called Whereabouts Rule.
The Whereabouts rule is important and all rugby players should understand it as it is the players responsibility if they miss a doping test. This can cannot be blamed on any third party. Missing doping tests could ultimately result in sanctions and your loss of livelihood.

What is the Whereabouts rule?

To read the rest of the article click here ------

Redundancies looming at FRU?

The new board of the FRU chaired by Filimoni Waqabaca has been working relentlessly in the past 2 weeks and rugby lovers of Fiji should be excited. In interviews with the press he stressed the enormity of the task that needs to be done to bring FRU out of the red (a loss of $600 000 in  the last financial year).

The work they are doing is more important than winning the IRB Sevens world cup in June. The future of Fiji rugby is at stake. If done right, turning over a profit with an operating cost of $10 million will set FRU right for the future. The upcoming Classic All Blacks and Fiji game is part of this endeavour with revenue streams from gate takings, sponsorship and broadcasting rights.

However, one of the major concerns it appears from Waqabaca's interview with The Fiji Sun is the number of employees at FRU.

"We will evaluate the appropriateness of the current structure and staff numbers. For example, the IRB has around 60 staff worldwide, FRU according to the structure we were given ..have almost 40 positions."

To reduce the operating costs from $10 million it is possible that there will be restructuring and redundancies at FRU. Waqabaca has made the point that FRU is likely ovestaffed and that some maybe laid off.

As a comparison in England the RFU has about 1.2 million players and employs about 450 giving a ratio of 1:2700 (employees to registered players). In Fiji the ratio is much lower at about 1:1500 indicating that the FRU could potentially save on salaries by restructuring and redundancies.

These are exciting times but sacrifices and tough calls made have to be made.

We wish the new board and FRU all the best.

Nakaitaci selected for France

Finally some great news for Fiji Rugby. Noa Nakaitaci a winger for Clermont in France has been selected for France to tour New Zealand next month.

The 22 year old Fijian attended Tilak High School and Ratu Kadavulevu School before moving to France in 2009 to pursue his rugby dream. He represented Lautoka in 2008 at 18 and captained the national Under 19 side in 2009.
He moved to France later in 2009 and debuted for Clermont in 2011/12 and has scored 8 tries this season. He declared his interest to play for the Les Bleus when he turned down representing Fiji for the European tour last year.

Congratulations Noa.

Calls to Reintroduce Franchise Rugby in Fiji

Should franchise rugby be reintroduced into Fiji Rugby? Many are calling for its reintroduction since the death knell of the Colonial Cup in 2008.

The Colonial cup ran for 5 years from 2004 to 2008. Announcing its cessation, then FRU CEO Ratu Timoci Tavanavanua said the prolonged 15's competition was detrimental and also blamed low gate takings.

Others disagreed and many predicted that this would be more detrimental to Fiji Rugby. Taniela Tanivula the then Knights coach said that 'All the years of hard work has gone to waste' and that 'this would be a major downfall for Fiji rugby'. Two years later Fiji had its worst Rugby World Cup outing and its ranking slip to its record lowest at 13th.

The question - is can a successful rugby franchise competition be reintroduced into Fiji? I believe so. It won't be easy but a business model that will be profitable should be seriously analysed and put forward.

A Fiji model could be cloned from the New Zealand model. Private business capital is seriously needed especially when the FRU is lacking.

The Wellington Hurricanes Super 15 franchise is run by a consortium including the Wellington Rugby Union, former Hurricanes directors and Welnix, the owners of the A-League soccer franchise the Wellington Phoenix.

The Welnix consortium is made up of successful business owners inluding Gareth Morgan. He was interviewed after being awarded the licence for the Hurricanes franchise. Its an interesting  interview and I recommend listening to it.

Listen to that interview - click here        

This model allows the NZRU to collect on broadcasting revenue but at that same time washing its hands off the micro-level management that is often difficult when trying to run the game from a central level. The day-to-day running of a franchise is best done on the ground, and the rationale is that investors will do the job of running the franchise more efficiently than the NZRU or a provincial-based board could.

In the NZ model the players are paid by the NZRU and the Franchisees keep the revenue from gate takings, team sponsors and other revenues that they generate. Interestingly Gareth Morgan talked about generating revenue from the Wellington Rugby Academies. .

Certainly the Fiji situation is different but FRU needs a review and a franchise business model that will work to improve its finances and rugby in Fiji.

I invite your comments below. Click on the pencil.